1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fishing equipment, and particularly to a multi-pronged spear-fishing spear tip that provides the benefits of a single-point spear tip and a paralyzer spear tip in a single unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Spear-fishing is an ancient hunting technique for obtaining sustenance from marine animals. In some parts of the world, spear-fishing is still a mainstay of life rather than a sport. The basic technique utilizes an elongate pole with a sharpened end that a user flings at the target fish or animal either manually or with the assistance of a sling-strap attached to the spear for added velocity. Oftentimes the spear tip would include a fixed barb that prevents the prey from sliding off the spear.
Spear-fishing has advanced to spear guns powered by pneumatics or elastic bands. Modern materials and manufacturing techniques have also produced lighter, stronger and more durable spears than the typical wooden ones from the days of yore. The current spears used in spear-fishing fall into two basic categories. The first is a typical single-point spear and the second is a paralyzer spear.
The typical single-point spear includes an elongate shaft and a sharpened tip, the basic design of which has not changed much since ancient times. These types of spears can be used for a wide range and size of fish and other animals. While excellent at skewering the target prey, the typical single-point spear cannot easily immobilize the prey, even with a barbed tip, unless the single-point spear hits a killing blow.
On the other hand, the paralyzer spear is excellent at immobilizing the prey due to its design. A typical paralyzer spear includes an elongate rod or pole and a paralyzer spear tip that has several tines or prongs, usually three, spreading out from one end of the pole at divergent angles. The tines are relatively short in length. When a target prey is speared by one of theses paralyzer spears, the prey cannot easily free itself because the target is held at three penetration points in a stabilizing triangular pattern. However, the typical paralyzer spear is mostly effective for small fish or other small prey due to its limited penetration. Since the tines are spread at divergent angles from the end of the pole, the tines can only penetrate the prey's flesh a certain extent before the toughness of the flesh prevents further penetration, i.e., the tines enter the flesh at respective divergent angles that do not allow for further penetration after a certain depth. This is an issue when hunting larger fish or prey because the larger size and mass reduces the likelihood of making an incapacitating hit with the typical paralyzer spear, much less keeping the prey immobilized once hit.
In light of the above, it would be a benefit in the art of spear-fishing to provide a fishing spear with the benefits of both a single-point spear and a paralyzer spear. Thus, a multi-pronged spear-fishing spear tip solving the aforementioned problems is desired.